#Fair September 15

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This month the #Coach4adayChallenge for September is to profile a biography of someone. Today will focus on some of the leaders of the Robeson County FAIR.

Sometimes when I write a post it takes a detour. That happened today. True confession I wanted this post to focus on the namesake of Luther J Britt Jr. Park in Lumberton. He was a former North Carolina State Senator, attorney, and dad to Luther Johnson Britt III. I struggled to find any significant biographical info online but did stumble on his involvement with the Robeson County Fair.

That FAIR will be cancelled again in 2021 due to COVID. My research on the FAIR produced a long list of leaders who have been involved with its operations.

Leaders of the Robeson County FAIR

When you investigate the history of the Robeson County FAIR you need to know that it was the brainchild of the Lumberton Jaycees. The Lumberton Jaycees were organized in October of 1946 by a group of returning World War II Veterans. John Luther McLean was named the first President. McLean was a promising young insurance executive in Lumberton. The Club received its charter in January of 1947. The Club membership in it’s infancy was as high as 106 men.

Some of the Leaders of the FAIR

J. A. Sharpe, Editor and Publisher of The Robesonian was elected the second President of the Lumberton Jaycees. Under Sharpe’s guidance and with John A. Tudor, a well-respected Lumberton Merchant serving as Chairman, the first Farmers FESTIVAL in Robeson County was held on October 7, 1947. The location was Liberty # 1 tobacco warehouse on First Street.

Hector McLean chaired the 2nd Farmer’s FESTIVAL which was held in October of 1948. McLean was Mayor of Lumberton and at that time was one of the youngest Mayors in North Carolina.

Monroe Carr Gibson, a local lumber operator became the 4th President of the Lumberton Jaycees in 1949. The fair that year was held on the grounds of the Armory-Bill Sapp Recreation Center today.

John W. Campbell, a young Lumberton lawyer who was just 27 when he became President of the Lumberton Jaycees in 1950. That year the FAIR expanded to 6 days. In 1950 The Robeson County Agricultural and Industrial Exposition, Inc. (FAIR) became the legal provision for the Lumberton Jaycees. The next year (1951) the FAIR was held on property owned by Jaycees on West 5th Street. That was short lived because after the 1954 FAIR U. S. Highway 301 By-Pass was being constructed and the state needed the Jaycee Fair property for the highway and a borrow pit.  They sold that property for $6,000 and purchased 18 acres from Asberry Taylor just off of US 74 (present site).

Sam Noble was serving as President of the Lumberton Jaycees in 1960. During this year the Fair Corporation entered into a major project, the construction of an exhibit hall. It measured seventy-five feet by one hundred and twenty feet.

Luther J Britt, Jr. was elected in 1964 as Jaycee President. That year Reighoffer Shows was a fixture at the FAIR, generating the largest ride gross in the history of the fair.

If you want to read all about the history of FAIR in Robeson County suggest you go to this link.